Return to Hoenn
by Ligar Zero X
Summary: Rated PG13 for very mild language. A now nineteen year old Ash Ketchum, Greatest Pokemon Master ever, returns to Hoenn for some training. But going back, that means seeing May again. AshMay fic.
1. Background

I don't own Pokemon although I wouldn't mind owning a mew . . .  
  
Chapter 1: Background  
  
A now nineteen year old Ash Ketchum sighed as he gazed into the open waters around the cruise ship he was on. The destination: Hoenn, Littleroot town to be exact. He was now the greatest Pokemon Master ever, after going back and winning every tournament he'd ever lost in, receiving a Master Badge from each and every one of them; something no body had ever done before. Ash had made one fatal flaw not long after he was named the best pokemon master ever. The old leader of the Pokemon League had told Ash that he was considering resigning, saying he had too much gray hair for a job like that. Ash had immediately accepted, thinking it would be great. Bad move. Ash now knew why that man had as much gray hair as he did; it was hard to get a moment of piece with the job. Ash almost felt as though he'd been tricked, but there were always the fun parts, like the fact that trainers now had to get through him to get a Master Badge. At least Gary and he had given up their little rivalry after Ash had been named the best. He'd even admitted, however grudgingly, that he'd have no chance against Ash in a battle now.  
  
This time, Ash was going back to Hoenn with his best pokemon, not just pikachu. He was here for some serious training after finding out that there would be a month before anything important concerning him would happen. He now had some time to get away from things and maybe even be lucky enough to meet some old friends, namely May. He'd met her six years ago when he'd had a little 'Pika-problem'. It was also the day he'd met Prof. Birch (That would make Ash thirteen and May ten when they'd met).  
  
He had never seen Misty since he'd left for Hoenn. Ironically though, he missed May more, even though it had been longer since he'd last seen Misty. He didn't know why, but he felt as though if he had a decision between the two, May would be the one he'd choose. The question now was why? Was it a brotherly affection for the younger girl, or was it something more?  
  
He decided to put those thoughts aside as he continued staring at the open seas. 'It doesn't matter. The odds that I happen to find May while wandering mindlessly through the woods are pretty small.'  
  
Too bad it was something much like the LOTTO. The odds are extremely small of winning, but someone has to win.  
  
Two hours later, Ash disembarked the ship with pikachu at his side, heading toward Prof. Birch's lab in Littleroot town. From there on, he would try to find a rather secluded town where he could train his pokemon to be even more powerful. The challengers were getting tougher and tougher, especially Team Rocket. Jesse and James, as they couldn't wait to tell him, before another of their incredibly weak battles, that they had been promoted to executives due to the fact that they had known Ash since he began and their boss could pick out the important information about him from the rest of their meaningless babble. Luckily, Hoenn was one of the best places to train since most trainers circulated around Kanto and Johto. Even the Orange Islands would be nice for training if there wasn't so much water to travel over. It was too slow!  
  
Ash began his walk up to the lab where he was supposed to pick up a special pokemon navigator, or pokenav. Whatever it was, it sounded cool so it probably would prove useful. He had seen a pokenav before, namely from Max (I think I got that right. It's in the ADVANCE series on TV), May's brother, but this was a special pokenav so, it was probably upgraded with things he couldn't even imagine.  
  
Along with becoming leader of the Pokemon League, he also got many different types of gizmo's and gadgetry. They included things such as an updated pokedex with the records on all trainers and their current positions according to visits to pokemon centers and anything else that might require the use of a pokemon register system, it didn't tell the exact location but most trainers visited pokemon centers enough that you could get a good idea where they were at a given time, a pokegear (Gold and Silver), a portable pokeball transporting unit, and a special laptop with wireless abilities that could access the Pokemon League's database on nearly everything he could think of. Ash had, basically, everything on everyone and anything, all in the backpack on his back. However, he rarely used the database, complaining that it took the fun out of a battle, especially if you knew a trainer's fighting patterns and their Pokemon's attacks.  
  
Within minutes, he was back at Professor Birch's pokemon lab. He still couldn't get over how different this place was from professor Oak's. Oh well, who was he to compare a scientist's lab?  
  
"Hello, Ash! Good to see you again!" Professor Birch said from the door of his lab.  
  
"Good to see you to. I'm here to pick up the pokenav." Ash told him.  
  
"I see. One minute please, oh, feel free to come in." Professor Birch told him before disappearing into the lab.  
  
Ash quickly closed the door as he could hear the word bustling about that Ash Ketchum was in town. 'Can't a guy get a moment of peace?!' Ash thought angrily as he sat down in one of the chairs by the door before someone spotted him and he'd be trapped in the lab for what could be weeks, which he didn't have, he only had a month.  
  
A few moments later, professor Birch came back out carrying a black box about the size of a hand. He walked up to Ash and opened the box, revealing a silver and black pokenav. "Here you go, Ash! As like most of the other things I hear you've got, this pokenav is an updated version of the old one. However, since there haven't been any new developments in technology beyond hologram screens, the only upgrades this one has that other ones don't are body color and an expansion card slot that can be used to add on to it if anything new is made. It can also hook up to your computer to download information, past that, nothing is new."  
  
"Sound's good!" Ash said eagerly as he took the pokenav. "Erm, professor, how do you turn it on?"  
  
Birch sweat dropped as he showed Ash a small switch on the side of it. "And here's the instruction Manuel, I suggest you read it so nothing happens, Ash."  
  
Ash looked into the box and saw, indeed, that there was a small booklet. 'Joy. More instruction books. I'm a Pokemon Master, not a computer nerd.'  
  
An hour later, spent mostly talking about Kanto, Johto and other places while debating over which one was toughest to beat, Ash exited the lab and quickly made his way into the forest so as not to be noticed. He should probably stop by May's house to see if she's there. . . too bad that would mean seeing her again and that was something he'd rather avoid. He tended to feel, awkward, around her. He'd become quite witty with his experiences with annoying interviewers, but he felt as though he was cornered when talking to her. It was embarrassing. . .  
  
Ash opted against it, using the excuse that it would mean going back into the town and being seen more. His conscience seemed satisfied for the moment, but made the silent promise that in no way was the mental 'argument' over.  
  
With his conscience cleared, Ash and Pikachu began their walk through the forest toward Oldale Town. His first stop would be at the Pokemon center where he'd sleep for the night, then it was on with his little 'quest'.  
  
Ash walked through the forest, most pokemon seemed to be able to sense him and steered clear of him, while some of the most daring came out and faced him. Each he tried to run away from as many as possible and those he couldn't, he fainted with one hit.  
  
His current Line-up consisted of: Pikachu, Blaziken, Espeon, Pidgeot (it returned to Ash after he'd returned to Pallet town), Lantern, and Charizard. It could handle just about anything, and took him a while to create, especially Espeon, since it was a natural evolution, not a stone- based one. In addition to this incredible line up, he also had 221 different types still at Oak's lab.  
  
Ash took out his Pokegear and turned on the radio, tuning it into professor Oak's usual talk-show. It seemed pretty useless considering what he had in his backpack, but it was still entertaining. After that, he'd just listen to some music until he got to Oldale town. It was then that he noticed an odd wiggling on his shoulder. Pikachu was actually dancing to the tune of the commercials during break in the talk-show! That was a rare moment to put it lightly!  
  
Ash had purposely taken the long way to the city using the Hoenn map in the pokenav, that is, after he'd found out what buttons did what. He wanted to get as much exercise as possible and he was running ahead schedule, so he did the natural thing anybody would do, he sat down to take a nap. 'It's funny how fast I can get around now. Last time I walked that path, May had been complaining nearly the entire way about how fast I was walking. I'm actually beginning to miss the whining. Misty would probably hit me on the head with a mallet or something. . .'  
  
Ash started thinking of his current 'profession'. Gary was now officially his assistant in almost all matters. It was Gary that did Ash's scheduling since Ash was usually too tired or busy to do it. He'd proven to be a very valuable ally to the young master. It also helped since Gary got paid enough to practically buy out the entire Orange archipelago! 'A bit of bribery never hurt anyone.' Ash thought, remembering all the zeros in the number he'd offered Gary.  
  
His mind now back on thoughts of May and catching more Pokemon, Ash fell asleep.  
  
-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:- :-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:  
  
AN: Okay, that's my first chapter. Sorry but I'm not a big Misty/Ash fan. The only problem with Misty is that she's a bit too annoying and bossy. If you don't like it, tough! Nothing against Misty/Ash fics, of course.  
  
-Ligar Zero X  
  
PS: Sorry if it's a bit 'jumpy' from one point to another, but I wanted to get a lot of facts covered in very little space. Namely, like the title says, it's a background of what has happened. If things go well, the next chapter should be out soon. 


	2. A Familiar Face

I don't own Pokemon!!!  
  
Chapter 2: A Familiar Face  
  
Ash sighed and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes after he was woken up by Pikachu. He looked around and then noticed one major thing wrong: it was dark already! For all he knew, the Pokemon Center would be closed by now!!! He really had to hurry.  
  
Ash ran down the hills outside Oldale Town as fast as his feet could carry him. 'There it is!' He thought happily as the building he'd been searching for came into view.  
  
Ash ran in the door of the pokemon center less than a minute before closing time. "Uhm, Nurse Joy? Could I sleep here tonight?" He asked in a panting, tired, voice.  
  
"Certainly! Unfortunately all of the rooms are filled for the day. Feel free to take one of the couches though if you don't mind." The nurse told him.  
  
"No problem, thank you." Ash replied before walking toward one of the couches on the far side of the room. He set his backpack against the wall and his pokeballs under the plushy throw-pillow which he next laid his head on. He was still breathing hard and was more than willing to get some more sleep after pikachu had woken him up.  
  
Even though he lay there for around two hours, he simply couldn't fall asleep. It was when he decided to get up that he noticed pikachu wasn't near him. Normally the electric mouse would cuddle up in his personal pika- sleeping bag with lightning bolts on it (remember the episode in Lavender Town with Haunter. . .). It was odd that pikachu was nowhere close by.  
  
"Pikachu." Ash called quietly.  
  
Ash waited a few moments for the familiar 'Pika!' But it never came.  
  
Ash started to get a bit nervous. There were a lot of people that would love to have his pikachu. Namely, Team Rocket.  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------------ Flashback ------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Ash sat down at his desk in the Pokemon League HQ. Things were relatively boring today, but that could change in minutes in the HQ.  
  
"Mr. Ketchum, Mr. Yanoto is here with news for you." Ash's secretary said through the desk-speaker.  
  
"Send him in, please." Ash responded into the speaker.  
  
"Sir, I have disturbing news from our agents." The man said after closing the door.  
  
"Do tell." Ash muttered, there were countless pieces of 'disturbing information' that were normally just the league's agents being paranoid. Most of the time it was just a waste of his time.  
  
"It seems that Team Rocket, Team Magma and Team Aqua have set aside their differences and formed one group." The man said.  
  
Ash nearly jumped over the desk in shock. "What the hell did you say?!" Ash gasped.  
  
"Unfortunately, it's true. The organization has no name, making it all the more difficult for us to find them." Yanoto told him.  
  
"Damn." The pieces all fit together. Team Rocket wanted to control the world, Team Magma wanted the entire world to be earth, and Team Aqua wanted it all to be water. Like this, they were all just harassing the entire pokemon world.  
  
"There's more." Yanoto muttered.  
  
"What would that be?" Ash replied, no longer doubting the man. "It all seems to fit perfectly to what all the teams want." Then Ash noticed what Yanoto had said. "You mean to say that if the three teams happen to get control of the world, that there would be something of a back-stabbing war between them." 'That sounds like something Giovanni would think up. But this is bad. Alone their tough, but beatable. Together. . .' "Oh shit. My life just got a lot harder!" Ash muttered as Yanoto nodded.  
  
"I will get back to you if we learn anything new." Yanoto told him before turning around and walking out the door, knowing in his mind that Ash was just bombarded with a lot and probably wouldn't have it in him to even speak.  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------------ End Flashback ------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
That had been two months ago. Since then, there had been no Rocket, Magma or Aqua sightings since then. And a nameless team was hard to find, especially since they usually had a signal distorter on their devices, thanks to Giovanni, making them nearly impossible to track. Anyway, what would he search for? They were a nameless group. It was also kind of unnerving being one of the only people in their way. Ash had been a constant thorn in the three team's sides. He, being in his position and how pissed they probably all were at him, would be one of their first targets. Too bad it was hard staying ahead of someone like these teams if you, for lack of a better way of saying it, can't see them.  
  
Ash walked down one of the main halls of the large pokemon center toward the sleeping rooms. The odds were Pikachu smelt someone familiar and went to pay them a visit.  
  
Sure enough, he found pikachu pawing at one of the closed doors labeled 1B. "Come on, pikachu. You don't want to wake up whoever is in there. Let's head back, if it's anyone we know, we can talk to them tomorrow."  
  
Pikachu still seemed a bit restless, as if he didn't want to miss whoever was in there.  
  
"You know what, pikachu? If you don't want to sleep, we'll just go for a walk and still talk to whoever is in there in the morning." Ash told pikachu who seemed to consider the options.  
  
With a squeak of "pikaaa!" pikachu jumped onto Ash's shoulder.  
  
Ash chuckled a bit at his overly excited Pikachu. 'Whoever is in that room, pikachu knows who it is. We'll find out tomorrow.'  
  
With that, Ash and Pikachu walked down one of the corridors of the Pokemon center, getting themselves lost in the vast number of halls and rooms. Pikachu even went back into the duct work they had gone into when trying to escape after Team Magma had trapped them there. 'May had even said that Pikachu was pretty smart. Damn! I've got it bad for that girl. Argh! What am I thinking? I've got to get thinking right.' Unfortunately, his thoughts kept rolling back to his old female traveling companion. 'Hopeless. . .'  
  
"Come on, Pikachu. We need to get some sleep. I know you want to see who's in that room and all, but I'd love to get out of here before most of the people wake up. I want an early start so we can get training faster." Ash told his friend. He chuckled a bit as Pikachu stuck its head out of one of the vents. "You're enjoying yourself way too much, you know." Pikachu just pulled its head back into the vent.  
  
"Pikachu! I said come back!" Ash yelled and then clamped a hand over his mouth, remembering that there were people sleeping in the rooms around them. It was then that Ash noticed the claw marks on one of the doors beside him. 'Good news, we're back where we started. Bad news, my wallet is going to be considerably lighter before the end of this month.'  
  
"Pikachu, I'll let you play games on the computer." Ash muttered, knowing his playful companion could hear him. As soon as he'd stepped foot in his new office as head of the Pokemon League, he'd found out pikachu had taken a liking to, in addition to ketchup, computer games. From there on, Pikachu even got to like virtual reality games in the arcades. He had a rather . . . errr . . . odd . . . pikachu.  
  
"PIKAAA!!!" Ash was promptly pushed to the ground as pikachu shot out of the vent right above his head.  
  
"Hnnn?" Another voice interrupted them.  
  
"Huh?" Ash turned around and looked at the person who had spoken.  
  
"ASH?!" "MAX?!" Both said at the same time, pointing at each other in shock.  
  
"What are you doing here?" Max asked, a little awed at how big Ash had gotten since he'd last seen him.  
  
"Wow, Max. You certainly look older now." Ash whispered, "I'd say you're around fourteen now." (I'm just going to say that Max was eight when they met in the gym) He said as Max closed the door to his room and stood in front of him.  
  
It was then that Ash noticed he was still on the ground with pikachu on top of him.  
  
"Hey, Pikachu? Think you could get off me?" Ash muttered.  
  
"Chu." Pikachu squeaked as it hopped off Ash's back.  
  
Max put an arm out to help Ash up. "Thanks."  
  
"Hey, Ash?" Max asked.  
  
"Yea?"  
  
"What are you doing up this early? It's nearly four."  
  
"What?! Must have stayed out longer than I thought." Ash muttered again. "Come on, we can continue this conversation out in the main room."  
  
Minutes later, Ash and Max were sitting on one of the couches talking about their adventures while Pikachu pushed buttons on Ash's computer, making the tiny pikachu on the screen catch the falling apples (Heh, couldn't pass that one up!).  
  
"It's a bit cold." Max whispered.  
  
"Yea." Ash looked around and noticed a small fireplace embedded into one of the walls. "Guess it'll have to do."  
  
Ash took one of his pokeballs from under the pillow and walked over to the fireplace. "Blaziken! Use ember!" Ash ordered as the fire/fighting pokemon appeared in a flash of light.  
  
The logs caught on fire and Ash recalled Blaziken to its pokeball. "Should get warmer now!" With that, Ash walked back over to the couch and the two continued their conversation.  
  
"Hey Max? Where's May? Normally she'd go around with you." Ash said.  
  
"Hey! I AM fourteen now." Max huffed while puffing out his chest, but the look was ruined as he coughed. "She's back with mom and dad. I just came here because rumor had it you'd be coming today. I guess someone in Kanto is related to someone here, saw you leave and it spread via video phone."  
  
"Oh." Ash turned toward Pikachu who had paused the game, sensing her (I'll make Pikachu a girl in this fic) trainer's uneasiness. "It looks like we'll be getting out earlier. As soon as Nurse Joy shows her face, I'll pay her for the door repairs and we'll get out of here. I've had too much fun with 'harmless' rumors."  
  
"Pikachu!" Pikachu agreed with a nod.  
  
"If you're leaving, you could go now." A friendly voice said from behind them.  
  
Ash and Max turned to see a slightly tired looking Nurse Joy behind them.  
  
"Waaaaaa! Did we wake you up?" Ash gasped.  
  
"No. I had to get up anyway. Anyway, what's this about paying me?" Joy asked.  
  
"Well, pikachu here recognized a friend of mine in one of the guest rooms and kinda scratched the door a bit. I can pay you for the repairs." Ash offered.  
  
"No, it's fine. We have that kind of problem all the time. Nothing to worry about." Joy told them before going to her desk and getting the main computers started.  
  
"This means I've been up all night." Ash turned to Pikachu who was pushing the lid of the laptop down. "Amazing, you actually turned it off this time!"  
  
"Pika! Pikachu!" Pikachu squeaked happily as it placed the computer back into the backpack.  
  
Meanwhile Max was gaping. 'Wow. Pikachu has manners. I wonder if Ash can train my sister to clean up after me? Nah, If Ash likes my sister, that could get ugly.' (It's a mild romance, not a Hentai fic you perverts!).  
  
Pikachu dragged the backpack up to Ash before jumping up onto Ash's shoulder. "Allright, what do you want? You're on better behavior than usual." Ash said accusingly to Pikachu.  
  
"Pika?" Pikachu squeaked innocently, giving a motion that looked a lot like shrugging one's shoulders.  
  
"We'll talk about this later, got that?" Ash told his pikachu as he picked up his backpack. "Do you want to come with us, Max? We should be going now." Ash offered the younger boy.  
  
"Sure! Where are you going?" Max asked.  
  
"I was thinking Petalburg city first, then go off to find some secluded spot somewhere where I can get some training done." Ash told him.  
  
"Sounds good! Let me go get my stuff then we can leave." Max said as he ran back to his room.  
  
A few minutes later, Max came back out again with a backpack on his back. "Well, let's go!"  
  
After Max and Ash reached the forest edge, Ash thought of something. "Do you want to get there the fast way or walk?"  
  
"What's the fast way?" Max asked.  
  
"This." Ash picked another pokeball off his belt and threw it. "GO! PIDGEOT!" He yelled as the giant bird pokemon appeared in a burst of light.  
  
Ash walked up to Pidgeot and patted its neck, since Pidgeot was bigger than him. "Hey buddy, you up for a flight? It's not a long way, but its two people."  
  
"Pidg! Pidgeot!" Pidgeot said as it opened its wings to let them on.  
  
"Wow." Max whispered to himself before climbing onto pidgeot's back. Ash got on after him to make sure Max wouldn't fall.  
  
Pidgeot spread its wings to their full wing span and Max screamed as Pidgeot shot into the sky.  
  
"Hey! Well, someone's a showoff." Ash told his flying, feathered, friend.  
  
"Pidgot!" It said loudly, as if to tell ash 'AM NOT!'.  
  
"That's what they all say." Ash muttered as he felt pidgeot's back, feeling the tense muscles. Pidgeot was now flying slower and had to spend more energy to keep flying since it couldn't glide at this speed. "All right, if you want to make the jump, feel free."  
  
Pidgeot made a happy sound as it sped up to the point where they were a blur in the sky.  
  
"Pidgeot! AGILITY!" With that order, Ash wrapped his arms around Max to keep him on as Pidgeot sped up even more, breaking the sound barrier.  
  
"WWAAAAAAAA!!!!!" Max was now screaming in near fear at the feeling of the G-Forces from the flight, and then it was all over. Max looked down and could see Petalburg City below them. "Hey! There's the gym!" He yelled, actually sounding excited. He hadn't seen the city from the sky before. He just kept looking at all the buildings as Pidgeot circled around and started losing altitude.  
  
Ash released the younger boy as Pidgeot landed on the ground outside of the city and let Ash and Max slide off its back.  
  
"Good work, Pidgeot, thanks for the ride." Ash said, recalling Pidgeot back into it's pokeball before turning to Max.  
  
"Let's go." Ash said as both walked into the city.  
  
They walked for around ten minutes before getting to the Petalburg Gym. "Mom, Dad and May should be in there! They were cleaning it the last time I checked." Max told him.  
  
Ash walked into the gym as three sets of eyes turned to him.  
  
"So, Ash, are you here to shut me down? What did I do to suffer your wrath?" May's dad said in a joking voice.  
  
"Yep! This gym is closed." Ash said, attempting an official-like voice. With that both broke out laughing.  
  
"Do tell me you're joking." May said, sounding a bit confused about what was going on.  
  
"Yea, just kidding. It's a Pokemon League thing." Ash began but May's father finished for him.  
  
"It's kind of a mock against the last head of Pokemon League HQ. Whenever he showed up a gym, it meant that they had 24 hours to empty it 'cause it was shut down. He was a bit of a pain in the ass though. At least Ash seems a bit more lenient about gym rules."  
  
"Heh. The last guy, by what I've heard, was a pain in the ass to put it lightly. He tended to threaten to shut down a gym if they didn't send in the weekly report in as to who won or lost, speaking of which, I need to check in all the new trainers." Ash sighed. "That's why I came back. I need a break and I have a month before anything that requires me happens." Ash flopped down on one of the benches.  
  
"Pika. Pi, pikachu!"  
  
Ash turned to his electric rodent friend. "Guess you're hungry, huh pikachu? Come on, you can have some poke-chow." Ash opened his backpack and pulled out a box of poke-food. "Hey pikachu, Brock made this one for you so eat up so we can get going."  
  
"So, Ash, where are you going?" May's dad asked.  
  
"I was just going to wander around a bit and find a place for me to do some serious training. There have been a few problems I'm sure you've been informed of." The second part was aimed purely at May's dad.  
  
"Yea. I haven't heard of any rumors about the situation. If I do, I'll let you know as soon as possible."  
  
"Thanks. They've gotten better. It's almost hard to keep the news under wraps. If the media got a hold on this, the entire world would be in an uproar." Ash said with a sigh.  
  
"I think that's what they want. If it gets out, everyone panics, then they can take all the pokemon they want since everyone will be too nervous of getting robbed to even guard their pokemon well. Then it all leads back to you, Ash. In the end, you could get blamed for this." May's dad said, sounding almost like a father, something Ash wished he could have had.  
  
"Don't remind me. But this can't get out." Ash said yet again, for lack of something better to say.  
  
"Just 'WHAT!' is going on here?!" May and Max yelled at the same time.  
  
The two men looked at each other with a similar expression. "You don't want to know. It's a League thing." Both said in unison before Ash knelt down to take the box of poke food from Pikachu. He didn't have that much of the stuff and he wanted some left so the rest could eat.  
  
"Fine." "Whatever." Max and May said at the same time before huffing and turning around.  
  
"Heh. Guess they got that from you?" Ash whispered to May's dad who just nodded with a sigh.  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
AN: Well, that's chapter 2. Don't expect another chapter for a while since this one was nearly done when I just posted chapter 1, so it might be a while.  
  
Enjoy!  
  
PS: I know that the characters have slightly different attitudes from the ADVANCE series. This is because it has been six years since the series. I also don't know how to build Max's attitude since he just showed up in the show. I'll try and make any more changes if I find them in the show. However, tell me if you know anything that could make this a bit more accurate. And, as usual, tell me if you spot any spelling / grammar errors.. Thank You!  
  
-Ligar Zero X 


	3. Let the Training Begin

Here's chappie 3!  
  
I don't own Pokemon. (Beginning to notice a pattern here?)  
  
Chapter 3: Let the Training Begin!  
  
Ash leaned against the outside wall of the Petalburg gym. May and her mom were getting lunch ready, Max and May's dad, Norman, were in the gym cleaning and he was just sitting out here looking stupid. 'I really need to get going soon. I wasn't planning on staying so long, but with Max at the pokemon center and all, it was just too convenient an excuse not to stop by. Now . . . I like it here. I like seeing May again. She has a perfect family. Not like mine. Dad died from injuries he got in a fight while trying to save another trainer's pokemon from Team Rocket.'  
  
"Ash? What are you doing out here? You could come in you know." May's voice registered in his head.  
  
"Its fine, I'm just thinking about what's going on with my life and how much training I can get done in a month. After that, I've got to go and manage another tournament in the Johto Region." Ash sighed. "I don't have time to do anything. Shoot, even my assistant has a love life, that's more than I can say for myself." Ash hadn't even thought about what he was saying to her until the words left his mouth. He turned to look at May who just stood there, looking at the ground. 'Damn, she's beautiful. Waaaa!!! What am I thinking!? I need to stop thinking these things.' Ash thought, his face turning a tiny shade of red.  
  
May turned back to the gym to hide her own slight blush. "Well, feel free to come in if you want." She said hurriedly before going back into the building.  
  
"That. . . was odd." Ash muttered to himself as he watched May go back into the gym his face still tinged with red.  
  
'It's almost noon. I'm going to have to leave soon after lunch. I can't stay long because my pokemon need to get the first part of their training done by tonight.' Ash thought to himself before fallowing May into the gym. He might as well make himself useful until lunch was ready, which was starting to smell delicious.  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Ash finished off the last few bites of the beef stew in his bowl at about the same time as May. After placing their dishes into the sink, they decided to go out and talk, leaving May's parents and Max to themselves.  
  
After both of them had sat down against the wall outside the gym, Ash was the first to speak. "I need to go soon. My pokemon need to do the first part of their training before nightfall tonight or else we all go cold."  
  
"Where are you planning on going?" May asked him.  
  
"Well, I was thinking about ten miles out of town between here and Verdanturf Town. There's a large area of just forest where I'll be able to get some good training done." Ash told her.  
  
"Hey, Ash? Could I go with you? I'd like to see your pokemon." May told the older boy, her face already crimson with her rising blush. 'It sounds like a nice excuse.' She thought, too bad her face had already blown her attempted lie clear out of the water.  
  
"I wouldn't mind. I could use the company." Ash replied, bowing his head to hide his blush as well. 'A month alone with May, I'm not really one to complain.'  
  
"Yea! I'd like to come too!" Max's voice was heard from the door before the younger boy walked out, not even seeing that the two teens in front of him were blushing.  
  
"It would work. It could also be a good excuse to get my pokemon even more training. They've got one hell of a job ahead of them for three people if you guys do come." Ash told them.  
  
"I can leave as soon as I grab my pack." Max told them.  
  
"Let's go!" May cheered as the three went back into the house to start getting stuff ready to leave again. 'Damn you, Max.' She thought angrily to herself after she'd gotten into her room. 'So much for any time alone with Ash. I would have though he'd had a girlfriend by now, I doubt anyone would turn him down being a pokemon master and all. It least he's free.'  
  
'So much for time alone with May.' Ash thought, a little sad at the fact that they now had to watch May's little brother. 'Gha, why me? Oh well, since my stuff is all ready, I should check in the new trainer data.'  
  
While May and Max grabbed the materials they would need for they're little trip, Ash went into the kitchen and told the May and Max's parents about the plan while setting up his computer on the table.  
  
"So you're leaving again so soon?" May's mom asked.  
  
"Yea, my pokemon are going to have a large project when we get there and I need to travel ten miles in less than four hours, including dinner and a break from walking." Ash explained before he started working on checking over gym updates, trainer license receivers, and his email which was as packed as usual with stuff to be done while he was away, most was computer work so there was nothing that would be too inconvenient. The only good message was from Lance telling him that between Gary and he, they had everything at HQ Ash needed to worry about under control so that he wouldn't have to worry about what would happen. 'That's Lance for you.' Ash thought with a sigh.  
  
------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
One hour later, the four of them were ready to go, with Pikachu on Ash's shoulder. "Bye mom! Bye dad!." May and Max said to their parents before walking out the door with Ash, carrying an oddly bulging duffle bag, leading them. Scary thought knowing Ash's mapping skills, but I guess it's kind of hard to get lost when you have a machine that does the mapping for you, pokenavs are a blessing.  
  
An hour of the minor complaining from May about Ash's even faster traveling pace, they stopped to take a small break. Then they'd walk some more until they got to a spot where they'd stop for the night and the training would begin.  
  
They sat there drinking water and talking about the month ahead. 'I can't believe Ash won't tell me anything about his training schedule. What is going on here?' May thought to herself as Ash got up from his spot on the ground.  
  
"Come on. We've got a lot of ground to cover." May seemed a bit shocked. It wasn't like Ash to hurry anything unless a badge was on the line, then everything had to be at light-speed, or else! This time, Ash seemed completely serious.  
  
"Can't we take a bit more of a break? I'm tired! We didn't even walk this much in a day during the complete trip around Hoenn." May complained as she rubbed her sore legs. "Training hasn't begun yet anyway, so a least give yourself a break! I'm sure you need it too." However, she could see that Ash looked as regular as he did when they left. He hadn't even broken a sweat!  
  
"Oh yea it has. I've learned a lot in my journeys through the Orange Islands, things like the trainer has to be trained as well, an incompetent trainer won't be respected by his or her pokemon, actually, I learned that from Charizard, but that's a story I'd rather not go into." Ash told them. "Not that I'm calling either of you incompetent or anything!" He finished, noticing the look both were giving him.  
  
"If you say so Ash. I guess you do have experience with incompetence, after all, you did lose in the second match of the Silver Conference." Max said indignantly.  
  
"How many times do I have to tell you?! It was the second match of the FINALS! Are you ever going to let me live it down?" Ash replied, his anger starting to rise.  
  
"No." Max huffed, turning his back to Ash.  
  
"Hey guys, settle down, okay? As you said, Ash, we have a lot of ground to cover." May said, sticking herself between the two boys.  
  
"Fine." Ash replied angrily as he pulled out his pokenav. "Another two hours and we should be there, just need to keep on walking straight."  
  
With that, they continued their walk to, well, only Ash knew. Max couldn't find anything on his pokenav worth visiting, but Ash's was probably better than a normal pokenav.  
  
Max and May got more and more tired as Ash just walked as if it were the most normal thing in the world to cover ten miles, give or take, in around three hours of walking. At least there was dinner coming up so it wasn't too bad.  
  
Eventually they reached a very dense, heavily wooded, area. "Allright! Here's where we'll stay for a while, maybe even the entire month." Ash told him as he pulled out one of his pokeballs. "Go, Blaziken!" Ash called out his pokemon. Ash then went and grabbed the duffle bag he'd been carrying the entire time. He opened it up and pulled out another bottle of water, a container of coffee beans, a frying pan, a metal coffee pot, a package of rice, another of chicken, another of different chopped peppers and yet another containing some copped onions..  
  
Max and May watched as Ash poured all the materials into the frying pan and placed it on a stand made of rocks. He also laid the coffee pot on another stand of rocks after he'd put in the coffee beans. "Allright Blaziken, use Overheat to heat these up."  
  
The Blaziken did as it was told as Ash got up and walked over to his companions. "Do any of you mind stir-fry? It's the easiest to make out here." He received no objections so went back, to the duffle bag, pulled out another bottle, then went back to the cooking area now holding a container of soy sauce which was squirted onto the stir-fry. "Blaziken, heat down a bit, don't want to burn it." Ash said as he mixed the different foods in the frying pan together. His cooking had improved since he had to cook for himself for five years before he received the rank of #1 Pokemon Master. Some of his foods were actually edible, even if the menu of things he could make consisted of tacos, stir-fry, ramen, and anything else that could be considered 'instant'. That was the sum total of Ash's cooking skills.  
  
Within minutes, the coffee and stir-fry was done, Blaziken was back in it's pokeball, and the stir-fry had been served onto plates that also came out of that duffle bag.  
  
"How much do you have in there?" Max asked, motioning toward the now not-so- bulging bag.  
  
"Just the materials for tonight. I have all the items we could need stored in my PC (AN: remember in the games, how you can store items on the computer) so we can get anything else we might need. This isn't camping, it's training." Ash told them.  
  
"Good. I was beginning to wonder how much there would be to eat." May said happily as she continued to eat the stir-fry, her memories of the time they forgot the food before Brock came back. The food was pretty good, even if it did take an idiot to mess up a stir-fry, it was better than some her friends had tried to make! At least nothing was charred black, but that could also be Blaziken doing, turning down the heat to make sure nothing got burned.  
  
Ash watched May as she finished eating, which did not go unnoticed by Max. "I'm glad I came. You two need a chaperone to keep the both of you in line."  
  
"WHAT!?!?" Ash and May yelled at him, both blushing, apparently being knocked out of similar thoughts.  
  
"Get back here you little twerp!" May yelled as she got up and ran at Max who got up and ran away as fast as he could.  
  
Ash's brain suddenly caught up with him. 'As much as I'd love to beat the hell out of Max, there's training to be done.' With that, he took out the five pokeballs on his belt and released the pokemon inside. Pikachu hopped off Ash's shoulder and joined Ash's other pokemon which had gotten into a straight line, recognizing their trainer's intent.  
  
"Allright. You six need to make a decent sized lodge, for three this time. However, you still have the same amount of time so you have to hurry but don't make any mistakes." Ash then walked up to each pokemon and pointed to them as he gave them their jobs.  
  
"Pikachu, when it gets dark I want you to power all the lamps I'll hang. Espeon, I want you to pull down trees and stack them using psychic energy alone. Blaziken, use your slash to cut off the branches and the roots. Lanturn, you wash off all of the logs Blaziken cuts. Charizard and Pidgeot, you two make the foundation, walls and roof." Ash finished and the pokemon all got to work doing their assigned jobs.  
  
Ash then got a long wire with many light sockets on it and started hanging it from the branches of trees Espeon wouldn't pull down. Soon it would be dark and Pikachu would have to light the place. It would be easier to simply use flash, but then pikachu wouldn't get the training it needed, and it needed to really work to even gain one level. He assumed that each of his pokemon should gain at least three levels in this one-month training schedule.  
  
Ash placed two suction cup-like devices on Pikachu's red cheeks just as May and Max walked back into the clearing with May looking quite smug and Max showing quite a few bumps on his head. "I won't ask." Ash muttered. "Thunder shock, pikachu." Ash told it as the electric rodent did as it was told. The devices seemed to absorb the energy and the entire clearing was suddenly lit with bright lamps. "Keep that up, pikachu. But tell me if you start to get too tired, I had to put up more lamps since it was a bigger house." Pikachu nodded and sat down against a tree, putting all it's concentration into lighting the lamps.  
  
"Pikachu seems more hyper than usual. He's nervous, something's not good. Pokemon have a bad tendency of being able to feel something bad." Ash told the other two as they noticed that the lamps didn't stay in one constant brightness, rather seemed to almost dance with different amounts of light. "Pikachu's mind is wandering. It's not concentrating."  
  
Ash turned to Pikachu and, sure enough, the rodent looked to have a pained look on its face, as if thinking hard on something. "Get ready. Pikachu's yet to make a wrong prediction."  
  
The three watched as the cabin took shape and, after a few hours, was completed. It even had a nice porch with railings to lean on.  
  
"Good. Let's all get some sleep, but keep your pokeballs near you. Something doesn't feel right, but I might just be paranoid." Ash told May and Max before showing them their rooms. "If you give me a few minutes, I can get a few cots over here, later we'll get beds in, sorry but I wasn't counting on three people."  
  
"It's okay." "I'm fine." May and Max said at the same time before walking into their assigned rooms. 'Great. Hard wood floors. Should have stayed up with Ash.' Both of them thought as they closed their respective doors behind each of them  
  
Ash sighed as he walked outside, returned all his pokemon to their pokeballs, except pikachu that is, and went inside again. There he set up his computer on the ground and logged on. *Please plug in portable beaming unit and press OK to begin.* a small textbox on the screen told him.  
  
Ash plugged in the unit and pressed the OK button. *Select item* showed on the screen. There were tons of items stored in his PC: tables, chairs, 2 beds, lamps, desks, food supplies, an electric stove and even a backup battery.  
  
Ash clicked on the table button and five different tables showed on the screen. Ash clicked on the largest one and the portable beaming unit (PBU as I'll call it) flared to life and there was suddenly a huge table that could easily fit seven people in the middle of the room.  
  
Five minutes and a lot of flashes later, their were four chairs set up around the table, the electric stove on the unused end of the table, with candles set up in the middle. There was also a desk with a chair set to the side of the main room as well as a large black box set off to the opposite side. It was a battery that pikachu or Lanturn could charge up so that there would be power inside at night.  
  
Pikachu and Ash's other pokemon all worked to make the building more livable, strictly avoiding Max and May's rooms. Those two weren't used to the first night being an all-nighter for set-up. It was for the best that they slept. They put hooks into the roof where there were four wires suspended, all attached to the walls, leading to the battery in the corner of the room. The main room now had two lamps on opposite corners of the room. Ash's room also had power to it, now housing his computer and another lamp, this one's shade in the shape of a pokeball. The wires that would lead into Max and May's room were rolled up outside their doors, so that when they woke up pikachu could wire up their rooms too. Pikachu was the prime candidate for the job since his teeth could cut excess wire and he was electric to start with, so he'd like it if he got shocked! There was also a cot outside of Max and May's rooms along with sheets and pillows.  
  
All in all, the job was done except for May and Max's room before the sun started to rise.  
  
"Alright, return!" Red beams of energy shot out of his pokeballs, sucking their respective pokemon inside. Ash sat at the desk, admiring the handy- work of the room. His pokemon had done a really great job on it, since it was the largest cabin they'd ever built. Their was the main room in the center with May and Max's rooms beside each other on one side and Ash's on the other side, all with clean wood floors. This time his pokemon had even built doors for the rooms, supposedly since there was now a woman in the building too. 'Heh, so pokemon do have common sense.' That was Ash's last waking though as he fell asleep in the chair in front of the desk. _________________________________  
  
AN: That's it for this chappie. Again, tell me if you see any errors, preferably through email. The next chapter should be out by tomorrow if I get my way, maybe even later on today. Point is, sorry, homework has been a pain in the -beep- and I really didn't have time to finish this chapter up. At least I have the rest of Thanksgiving break where I should be able to get at least one or two more chapters in.  
  
Wish me luck -I'll probably need it!-  
  
-Ligar Zero X  
  
PS: I know what you're thinking: 'If all the chapters are this boring, I'm not going to take another look at this piece of junk.' Sorry but the next chapter will be just as bad. I'm just working on all the little things that need to be done before I can really get into the plot which, mind you, is going to be good. 


	4. Life as a Master

I don't own Pokemon. Sound familiar?  
  
Chapter 4: Life as a Master  
  
May groaned as she pulled herself up off the ground. She had slept on the wood floor in her sleeping bag all night and was feeling the effects of such a decision on her back as she tried to get out of the bag. She arched her back, feeling it pop four or five times before it felt better and even then, not much better. "I think I like the grass better." May muttered to herself as she finally managed to get up and walk around. "I guess I should go see how Ash and Max are doing." She said to herself as she walked to another corner where she'd placed her new backpack. She was also surprised that neither Ash nor Max had even noticed it throughout the entire trip.  
  
She opened the door to her room and abruptly dropped her new backpack. There was a huge table in the middle of the room, made out of fine quality Cianwood material. There were also lamps on both corners and she could see black wires attached to the roof. Following the cables she spotted a large black box with a small red line, saying whatever it was, was full, there was also a switch labeled ON/OFF.  
  
She took another look around the room and spotted Ash, asleep on a chair with his chin resting on his chest. She would have thought he was just sitting there but the light snoring said otherwise. She then noticed pikachu asleep on Ash's lap, curled up in a tight yellow ball.  
  
One of Pikachu's ears twitched in her direction. Then it sprang into a surprised May's arms. "Pi! Pi pikachu!" it squeaked.  
  
"Good morning to you too." She said to Pikachu, patting its head.  
  
Ash was now wide awake, after having Pikachu jump off his lap. Pikachu was rather happy to see May. It surprised him how much though.  
  
"Man. I slept in way too long." Ash groaned as he got up. "Pikachu, go heat up the stove and start making the pancake mix." Ash told Pikachu before walking into his room to get changed.  
  
May sat at the table and watched with amazement as Pikachu turned on the computer and beamed in all the materials for pancake mix. Then it scampered over to the table where it grabbed a small tray, ran back to the materials, loaded everything onto the tray before running back to the table while balancing the tray on it's head.  
  
Pikachu hopped onto the table, still balancing the tray. She unloaded the materials before jumping off the table and scampered over to the area in front of the stove, holding herself up on her tail to gain extra height (remember the Lt. Surge episode), she used thunder shock on a small black box beside the stove. She then plugged the black box, which May now assumed was a battery, into the side of the stove. The stove came to life and started heating the frying pan Pikachu placed on it. She then jumped back onto the table and started pouring some of the ingredients into a bowl before picking up a large spoon and stirring the concoction.  
  
Ash then came out and noticed two things at once. One was that pikachu was sitting on the table, with a spoon that was almost as big as she was, stirring something in a large bowl. The other was May looking at Pikachu as if its fur had turned pink again (the pink tree stuff from the Orange Islands), it had grown a second tail and had sprouted an extra three eyes. To say she was gawking put it lightly.  
  
"Ash!? When did Pikachu learn how to cook?!" May whispered to him after he sat down across from her on the table.  
  
"Actually, around two years ago. It watched Brock enough that when she was hungry, she just made her own poke food out of the same materials Brock used. From there, she's made tons of stuff, but mainly stuff that lets her use her electrical powers since it givers her a sense of self self- sufficiency. Cooking must be a girl thing that counts for pokemon too." Ash told her as he walked up to Pikachu and looked at the contents of the bowl. "She's gotten better too. Thank god she didn't learn from my cooking skills or there'd be a lot of dead people around."  
  
"That bad?" May whispered to the electric rodent.  
  
"Pika. Chu pi pika!" Pikachu replied, looking scared at the thought of Ash's cooking.  
  
May might not have been able to understand Pikachu like Ash could, but it didn't take much to notice that was a YES!  
  
Pikachu heaved the giant bowl over to the stove and used the spoon to scoop the batter into the frying pan.  
  
May and Ash just sat there watching. What else was there to do?  
  
=========================================================================  
  
After cleaning up all the dishes, Ash went back into his room. It was then that Max finally woke up and came into the main room.  
  
"*YYYAAAAWWWWNNNNNN* what time is it?" Max muttered just as Ash came out of his room. He was now wearing long baggy black pants that were tucked into black boots that went up to about mid-shin on his leg, tied with black straps attached with silver buckles. He also wore a black short-sleeved shirt that showed his well defined arm and chest muscles. Following behind him was a black cloak that was snapped together over his left shoulder (If any of you have seen G Gundam, think about Domon's cloak, only black, not red). Once he stopped in front of them the cloak stopped tailing after him and rested completely around his body, completely hiding his body.  
  
"WWWAAAAAAA!!!! ASH?!" Max and May both yelled at the same time.  
  
"Do I really look that bad?" Ash asked them. "This is the first time anyone has ever seen me in my master's uniform besides my pokemon."  
  
"No, it's just, well, what's with the black?" Max asked him.  
  
"Well, each master goes to Sabrina who assigns them an element that suits their nature. For some odd reason, I got the dark type. So my master uniform is completely black." Ash explained.  
  
"Who's Sabrina?" May asked him.  
  
"She's a gym leader in Kanto region. She's a psychic." Ash told them.  
  
"So what are you doing today?" May asked him.  
  
"I was thinking of going out into the woods and doing a bit of meditation so you two can either come along or do something around here."  
  
"Oh. I guess I'll come along." May said.  
  
"Count me in!" Max said at the same time as May.  
  
"Good. Let's go." Ash told them as he opened the door to the cabin, inviting them outside. "We've got another trip ahead of us, just not walking this time. To Littleroot town."  
  
"How are we going? Do you mean flying? We can't all ride on your Pidgeot. I think you're losing it Ash." Max told him.  
  
"Nope. We're teleporting." Ash then pulled a pokeball off his belt. "GO! ESPEON!"  
  
The cat-like psychic pokemon appeared in a flash of white light. "Espeon, teleport us to Littleroot Town."  
  
The three trainers and two pokemon were instantly transported to the forest edge of Littleroot Town.  
  
Ash recalled Espeon back into its pokeball. "Come on. We have the rest of the day of meditation and rest, then on to the more serious training. This is just to 'gather our minds' as Lance calls it."  
  
The three of them walked until they reached he ocean. Then it was more walking along the edge of the sea until they came to a small cave with a waterfall covering around half the entrance.  
  
Ash was about to walk in when a small piece of paper blew into his face. Quickly peeling it off, he was about to throw it away until he noticed it had something to do with pokemon. It was a sign for a competition. Apparently a group had made a challenge of a prize of 3 million points to whoever could catch and return a legendary pokemon. "What the?!" Ash then noticed the red 'R' on the bottom corner of the page. So Team Rocket was involved. Apparently Team Rocket, Magma and Aqua had thought of a decent plan. This would make just around every trainer in the world go out searching for the legendaries. Then they'd all be turned into the three teams and then all hell would break loose.  
  
"I think I'm going to need that meditation more than anything right now." Ash muttered as he walked into the cave, his cloak trailing after him.  
  
He would spend three days there, only leaving to eat and sleep. Then he would begin his training.  
  
=========================================================================  
  
One Week Later  
  
=========================================================================  
  
Ash sighed as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. So far he'd been training himself to get as much exercise as he could. May and Max were training their pokemon while Ash's pokemon, excluding pikachu, had left the camp to train on their own as long as they were back by eight each night. So far, he'd meditated the first three days; Max and May barely lasted one and left that night to sleep in the pokemon center.  
  
He noticed that pikachu seemed a bit distracted. It seemed so cautious and careful, as if trying not to give the impression that it was worried.  
  
Something was wrong. Very, very wrong. That much Ash knew; and he had a feeling that it had something to do with the three teams and their competition. He'd only seem Pikachu like this once before, and that was before the legendary bird's incident.  
  
=========================================================================  
  
AN: I know, that was a very short chapter but I wanted to leave it there since there would be some major things happening in the next chapter that will be the building blocks of the plot for this story. It would end up too long.  
  
Forgive the shortness as the next one will probably make up for one's shortness, if not that one, then the next one. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to split up the chapters. . .  
  
Oh well  
  
-Ligar Zero X 


End file.
